Bastardy, Betrayal & Ageing: A Gerontological Reading of King Lear

William Shakespeare’s much celebrated play King Lear (1606) deals with socio-political themes revolving around the protagonist Lear who divided his fortunes between his daughters on the basis of their flattery. King Lear is a play which is political in nature and the politics of it lie not only on the kingly position of Lear but also on his role as a father. The play depicts the picture of a state where social, domestic, and filial order has fallen down. The daughters of the old man Lear betray him. The reasons behind their betrayal are significant to explore. For Lear his two daughters’ betrayal lies in their lack of consideration for their father and lust for his money which they have already got, making Lear just a useless man to them now. But on the other hand, Edmund’s betrayal to his father raises questions on the hypocrisy of the social orders of the society which have kept him marginalized because of his status as an illegitimate child in the society. The paper attempts to explore the idea of social order being subverted by bringing forth two of the often-overlooked factors which are extremely crucial in driving the plot of the play. The study ventures into this field through the lenses of marginalized characters of Lear and Gloucester who are betrayed by their children and brings another perspective to this argument by bringing forth the conflicted position of Edmund who has been a victim of his father’s wrong doings. The study primarily uses close reading and textual analysis and theoretically uses Gerontological studies in the socio-political background of Shakespeare’s time and takes it further by examining its traces in the contemporary social scenarios.